Anthony Lunghi's Business Card

How to Survive a shitty economy thanks to George Bush Part Two *updated*

I have some fun and easy ways to earn and save money.

For shopping:
Bring your own bags, as now a lot of places are giving 5 cents off for every bag you bring in and use. Coupons, coupons, coupons. Did I stress coupons? Sometimes free community papers have them or you get them in the mail. Have a lot you don't use? Try coupon swapping, there are websites or even set up something on Craigslist where you trade coupons. While it's illegal to sell coupons, there's nothing wrong with swapping a coupon for cat litter when you don't have a cat, to someone who does have a cat and has a coupon that you can use. If you live in or near a state that does bottle deposits, it doesn't hurt to bring the cans/bottles/glass back for money. Some stores may limit how much you can get in a day, but at the Stop and Shop I work at, people can get up to $6 cash back. Some liquor stores are lenient, so they may be your best bet. Also, shop with a friend and split food together. Buy a big package of meat or a multipack of something you both use and save money that way. Also, be wary of produce prices. If a particular fruit or veggie isn't on sale, watch the price tag. I've noticed that in one day, green peppers went from $1.69/lb to $3.99/lb. Prices of produce fluctuate daily, so be wary of produce that isn't on sale. You may pay one price today, and another one tomorrow. Also, if you have places like Shoprite or Pricerite nearby, shop there first. The produce is usually good, but it can have it's days where everything looks bad. I wouldn't buy meat there unless it's prepackaged stuff. But, there are name brands and even store brands are cheaper there. I can buy steak sauce for 99 cents, and it's just as good as A1 or Stop and Shop brand. Cilantro is 99 cents per bunch, as to Stop and Shop price of $1.49 per bunch. The only drawback is that you need to bring bags or buy bags at 10 cents each, but its worth it. Plus, you need a quarter for a carriage, which is used so that carriages don't get stolen off the lot. You do get the quarter back. And if you spy a carriage sitting there in the lot, chances are there is still a quarter in it, so get the carriage and earn an extra quarter in your pocket. It happens often enough.

Pick up as many samples of different things as you can, either at the store, from a magazine, or online. Samples usually come with coupons, and if you stock up on different samples, you won't have to buy that product you need right away. Face wash, soap and other things would be good to keep in the house and last longer if you use it according to the directions. Have special places for trial size items so they are in plain view when you need them.

Before you go to the store, check out circulars online so you don't waste gas going if there's nothing you need there, or so you know what things are on sale, and check for coupons and stick them in your wallet or purse before you leave. Some stores also have other special coupons online, so sign up for their weekly newsletters as well if they have them.

Stop and Shop takes competitor coupons only if it says something like "$5 off purchase of $50 or more". Other shops too, such as Bed, Bath and Beyond. Find out if your grocery or other stores take competitor coupons. Bed Bath and Beyond takes their expired coupons too, so even if that 20% coupon expired last month, they will take it anyways. That is also similar for other things like car repairs as well. If you need something fixed on your car that doesn't need to be done right away but needs to get done, get quotes from different shops. Some shops will price match and beat it by a percentage as well. I had needed new tires soon, and Firestone was going to charge me one price. I went to Town Fair Tire across the way, and they would match that price plus beat it by 15%.

If you do go to get your car replaced, avoid the following places, as I and other people have had really terrible experiences and/or are overpriced: Pepboys (they ruined the entire steering column and they weren't supposed to touch it) and Firestone are the top two places to avoid like the plague. Try to stay away from a dealership since they tend to be overpriced too.

If you can, find a mechanic who is willing to do work on the side and you buy your own parts. My last car needed brakes, and instead of paying $500 for it to be done by Speedy by Monroe, I bought the brakes myself and had paid a mechanic to do it for $50 an hr. I spent $300 total. When you do get your car repaired at the shop, pay attention to how much an hour it costs. Most dealerships make you pay $75-100 an hr, so you may pay more for labor than the part itself! Shop around for cheaper people, but know what is worth to shell out and what isn't. I can tell you right now anything with a transmission problem is a huge problem, and if that's the case, you are better off getting a new car. There are websites like Ask A Mechanic, who can help you with your issues. They will give you advice as to what could be wrong, best case and worst case scenarios. They might not be able to fully diagnose the problem, but they can direct you to the right path.

Also, shop around for better car insurance. Like the commercial says, "you may be paying more for car insurance." Avoid Nationwide as well, I had a coworker who got into in accident, and they wanted her to take the car to them. That's not right. The insurance company has to send someone to wherever your car is, you don't bring it to them. And check out the state laws about insurance, in Rhode Island insurance companies cannot force you to choose one of their repair shops; you can choose whatever repair shop you want. Check out your local government website about that.

Fun ways to get money:
Number one rule for this is, set up a separate email for the next few things. Only because doing this will clog up your email so fast it's not funny. But it's worth it.

www.mypoints.com is a website that you can have emails sent to you a few times a day, or whatever you choose. You get five points for every email you read (meaning you have to click the ad or whatever it is displayed in the email.) Once you click on the offer, if you don't want to do it, just exit out and delete the email. If you want the offer, go ahead as you will earn more points. Sometimes they do surveys too. I already got a gas card, and you can get gift cards to many places or get subscriptions to magazines or whatnot. They have a credit card if you want to earn more points that way, it's up to you. The points workout because you can get useful things.

www.Sendearnings.com is similar to Mypoints, but it takes longer to earn. Once you earn at least $30, you can get a check sent to your house. Also once you hit $30, you automatically become a gold member, so you earn more money. It earns a few cents at a time, but you do get a $5 head start. For this one it takes a little more work, but click on the ad, then click on where it says Read Email and then exit out unless you want to complete the offer. I recommend for this one and the other one prior is to just delete these messages once you are done with these offers. Unlike MyPoints, you get money rather than gift cards.

Anyone a Coca Cola fan? www.mycokerewards.com allows you to redeem caps for points. You can enter contests, get subscriptions to magazines, toy figurines, airplane tickets and more! A bottle cap is worth 3 points, and the 12 pack is worth 10 points. Sometimes they double points too on certain days. If your not a Coke fan, Pepsi does have stuff too, but I'm not sure about their program.

This by far is the best thing I use. It's called ShoppersHotline, and it's a good program. Basically, you go shopping like you normally do, and scan your groceries into a scanner they provide for you for free. You must have a phone jack in your house for this, as well as internet. You plug the scanner in the phone jack, and when you scan your items, the information is transferred over to the company. (Don't worry, your information is safe with them.) You earn 40 pts per scanning session. You can scan anything you ever buy. If it's not able to scan, they do provide you with other means to let them know how much you spend. Once you get to a certain amount of points, you can earn money on a black debit card they send you. But there's no pin number, so you have to use this card like a credit card. The smallest amount you can retrieve is $10, and you can earn it pretty quickly. Not only do you earn points by the scanner, but on their website, you can do surveys, and add a program on you computer, which every 3 months you earn $5 on your debit card. But you have to at least turn on your computer once a week. Also, you can enter in prescriptions, which earn you additional points. I believe you need 625 points for a $10 debit card. You keep the card to earn more money. Not only do you earn money, but each time you scan or do a survey or enter a prescription, you are entered into a monthly drawing for money as well. It's a pretty easy program, and if anyone wants to sign up, email me at sportygal785@yahoo.com and I can provide you with a phone number to get you started through my referral program. You can sign up yourself on the website, but it's a bit harder to do. You do have to be 18, not living in Hawaii or Alaska (US citizens only, sorry) and it's one person per household that is in control. If anyone has questions, you can call this number too. 1-877-999-2949 or again email me. It's pretty simple. And if you go on vacation, there's a setting for that too. I've used it for a couple years and it's awesome.

Anyone love gaming? Pogo and Slingo are two places I go to play games for free and earn points too. Earn points and you can enter into daily, weekly, and monthly drawings for cash. Also, there are jackpot games, where you can win money just by finishing a game. I tend to split up my points between the different drawings to up my chances. There are paid upgrades if you want to win double money and get special features, but it's not necessary.

Everything I listed is free, no hidden fees or any crap. There are more sites, which I will add as time goes on and I discover them. Keep posted for more ways to save money in the future. Feel free to pass this info along, and to comment.

*Update* http://online-sweepstakes.com
is another site I use often to enter in many different types of sweepstakes, from cash to cars, one time only to every day entering. This website was one I read about in Womens World a few years back. It's pretty useful, and you never know if you don't try to win by entering.

How to Survive a shitty economy thanks to George Bush

*First and foremost, I want to apologize to my readers. It's been a crazy month or so since I last wrote, between leaving to go home for the summer, and then my father passing away.*

You start noticing a lot of changes now. The news is always bleak, how the economy is sucking right now, and how many people's lifestyles have changed. Houses getting cheaper, and foreclosures on the rise, gas prices are killing everyone, it's an absolute nightmare.

As a cashier, and as a person who pays attention to everything going around me, I see that Americans are taking a really bad hit, and I would not be surprised if we had another Great Depression. People with low income housing are now homeless, and people who were middle class are now hitting the food banks. I watch people putting back essentials because it's now too damn expensive. You can't even buy a box of pasta for $1, although recently Stop and Shop has a sale for a $1 on pasta, but still. I remember getting boxes of pasta 3 for a$1 as of a few months ago, that's how bad our economy is. It really sickens me.

As someone who was once middle class, and became lower class since my parents divorce, we are struggling. However, there are things to make this situation better. I'm a person who looks out for the cheapest ways, and despite everything, we are getting by. So I want to share things I do to make other people's lives easier.

As far as driving goes:
Keep your tires filled, and don't over fill them. At Walmart, there are tire gauges that you can put on each individual tire and it tells you the tire pressure. It's easy and only a few bucks. I would also invest in this 3 in 1 thing where it fills your tires, is a flash light and it has a radio or something in it. It would be good if your tires get low on the run, but can't find a gas station with a working air hose. It's about $20-25 and small enough to stick in your trunk or backseat. And I think it's battery run but also can be used by plugging it into the car cigarette lighter. I know that the Hess near my has free air and the newer ones have a gauge so it beeps when it's done filling. The average tire fills at 35, unless you have a truck or big car. General rule of thumb.

I would also use dry gas or something to the equivalent about every few weeks. I've used the dollar store's dry gas and never had a problem. Take out the extra weight too. It adds to the gas mileage. For every 50lbs you have in the car, you lose 1% of your fuel. If you really don't need to take your kids or husband with you either, don't. And if you are a big person like me, losing a few pounds may save you gas money. At least once a week sweep out unnecessary stuff from your car. And, for your car's sake, keep your keys and keychains light. Too much weight can ruin your ignition. The weight tugs on the mechanics of it, causing it to warp.

As far as gas goes, pick the cheapest name brand, and try not to use too many different types of gas stations. Try to stick to at least one or two gas stations, like say Exxon and Hess, unless you are absolutely desperate for gas. Try to avoid cheap gas stations that have no name brand, because what it is it's a gas station the picks the cheapest gas company, and the gas may be bad. I'd rather pay a little extra on gas than shell out money for a new car or car part because it got ruined by bad gas. That has already happened once to me

Speaking of gas stations, here's a few helpful hints to get decent gas. For people who live in New England, Stop and Shop is doing a new gas thing now. No more gas coupons, but rather, for every $50 you spend on food, you get 10 cents off a gallon of gas just by using your card. Now it doesn't sound a lot, but, it accumulates. So you no longer have to spend $50 in one transaction to get a coupon. I have people who already have 200 points ($200) which is 40 cents off a gallon. That doesn't include the automatic 5 cents you get off just from using your card at the pump. No gas station nearby? Check out www.stopandshop.com for the closest ones, and then look for other things to do nearby. So your not just going out there for gas, you can do other things as well. See if there is a movie theater or a mall or stores you don't really get to go to often. Make it one big trip so your not wasting gas to get gas. If you really want, save up as much as you can, I already had one guy save $1.60 per gallon, so if you do your math right, you can probably get your gas practically free. Now for people who live in other parts of the US, Stop and Shop is sister company of Giant, Super Giant, Tops, and Martin's, so check out your local supermarkets' website. Also at Stop and Shop, you can use your gift card towards gas as well. Also, for people who live near Super Walmart's you can also save. When you use your credit card or Walmart gift card, you save an extra 3 cents off per gallon. I know that's not much, but it all helps. So if you don't want a Walmart credit card, just put the amount you want to put into your gas tank (such as $25 for example) on a gift card and save 3 cents off a gallon at the pump. Save your gift card too, as it's reloadable.

Google places where you want to go to, and look for short cuts and places where you can avoid lights. Sometimes there are shorter ways to get to places that you normally travel. Avoid street driving as much as possible, especially roads where you know that has a lot of lights. Idling uses up gas, and that rule applies to drive thru as well. If you are going to eat a place that is still open, choose to go in rather than drive thru.

More tips on saving money to come....